The discussion below is merely provided for general background information and is not intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter. Aspects of the invention relates to a sorting apparatus for sorting products according to the preamble of claim 1.
Such an apparatus is known from JP 3042413. The known sorting apparatus comprises a conveyor belt which is tilted about an axis extending parallel to the conveying direction. The products are held in place on the conveyor belt by separate conveyor belts, which are arranged perpendicular to the support surface of the conveyor belt, at the lower longitudinal edge thereof. When a product is to be conveyed to one of the outlets, a conveyor belt cooperating therewith is swung down, so that the product can move off the conveyor belt. The drawback of the known apparatus is that it cannot function optimally when products of varying dimensions are to be conveyed. In addition, the known apparatus is a complex and, because of the separate, driven conveyor belts, costly solution.